Media of the type including a repositionable adhesive are commonly used in a variety of venues including, but not limited to, homes, workplaces, and schools, and for a variety of applications, such as note-taking. One common type of medium having a repositionable adhesive is often referred to in the art as a repositionable note paper and includes a small sheet of paper having a top surface and a bottom surface, the top surface is receptive to markings, the bottom surface having a repositionable adhesive applied to a portion thereof, typically as a band of adhesive applied alongside one edge of the sheet.
In use, a handwritten or machine-printed marking is made on the top surface of the sheet, and the sheet is adhered to a desired object by pressing the adhesive band directly against the object. Often, prior to use, a plurality of identical such media are stacked on top of each other and held together using the adhesive bands to form a pad. The media can be stacked with their respective adhesive bands aligned with one another. For such stacks, markings can be made on the top sheet prior to separating the top sheet from the remainder of the pad, or the top sheet can be separated from the pad prior to applying a marking to the separated sheet.
In another type of stack, the media can be arranged in an alternating pattern in which each sheet is rotated 180 degrees relative to its adjacent neighbors with respect to their respective adhesive bands. The aforementioned type of stack is often referred to as an “accordion stack” or as a “Z-stack,” due to the appearance of the stack from its side when the top and bottom sheets of the stack are gently pulled in a direction away from one another. Such stacks can be used in conjunction with a slotted dispenser so that individual sheets can be separated from the stack by pulling the free end of the top sheet up through a narrow slot in the dispenser. Once the sheet has been removed from the dispenser, it can be marked and adhered to a desired substrate. Such stacks can also be used without a dispenser, in which case the marking can be applied to the sheet either before or after separating the sheet from the remainder of the stack.
Another common type of repositionable medium is often referred to in the art as a repositionable flag and includes a rectangular strip of polymeric film divided laterally into a first portion and a second portion, the first portion is usually longer than the second portion. The first portion, which can be translucent, has a repositionable adhesive applied to the bottom surface thereof and has a coating applied to the top surface thereof that is receptive to handwritten or machine-printed markings. The second portion can be devoid of adhesive on its bottom surface and can have a coating over its top surface that is receptive to handwritten or machine-printed markings. In addition, the top surface of the second portion can be coated with a colored ink and can additionally include pre-printed information.
The above-described repositionable flags are often arranged in “Z-stacks,” with individual flags being dispensed from the “Z-stack” using a slotted dispenser. In use, a flag is dispensed from the “Z-stack,” and the flag is adhered to a desired object, such as a sheet of paper. If desired, markings can be made on the first portion and/or the second portion of the tape, either before or after the tape is adhered to a desired object. When the desired object is paper, the tape is can be positioned relative to the sheet of paper so that the second portion of the tape extends outside the boundaries of the sheet of paper, with the first portion of the tape positioned within the boundaries of the sheet. In this manner, the second portion can serve as a flag to identify a portion of the paper of interest, with the first portion of the tape being translucent so as not to obscure any printed matter located therebeneath.
Still another common type of repositionable medium includes a sheet of polymeric film divided into a first portion and a second portion, the second portion extending laterally from the first portion as a tab. The first portion, which can be translucent, can have a repositionable adhesive applied to the bottom surface thereof and has a coating applied to the top surface thereof that is receptive to handwritten or machine-printed markings. The second portion can be devoid of adhesive on its bottom surface and can have a small sheet of paper, which can be colored, adhered to its top surface, the sheet of paper is receptive to handwritten or machine-printed markings. Analogously to the repositionable note flags discussed above, markings can be made on the paper sheet and/or on top of the coated first portion, and the first portion can be adhered to a desired object.
However, in contrast with the aforementioned repositionable note flags, these tabbed media are not arranged in a “Z-stack” prior to use, but rather, are stacked so that all of the first portions of the polymeric film are aligned with one another and so that all of the second portions of the polymeric film are aligned with one another. The reason why a “Z-stack” has not been used for this type of medium is that, if a “Z-stack” arrangement were to be used, the adhesive area on the bottom of a first medium would come into direct contact with the paper portion of a second medium located directly beneath the first medium. Such contact between the adhesive area of the first medium and the paper of the second medium would undesirably result in the delamination or splitting of the paper from the second medium as the first medium is pulled away from the second medium.
It should, therefore, be appreciated that there is a need for a repositionable medium that can resist delamination when removed from a “Z-stack” arrangement. The present invention satisfies this need.